The Le family of San Jose, Calif., parlayed a catering business into one of
the most successful Asian food franchises in the Southwest. There are
35 Lee's locations, mostly in California, with a few scattered in
Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma.

The staple of Lee's sandwiches is "banh mi" -- Vietnamese sandwiches
with French flair. The first thing you'll notice at a full-service
Lee's is the smell of racks upon racks of freshly baked baguettes. The
franchise's signature sandwiches are simple stacks of meat -- often
pork or pate -- onions, cilantro and jalapeno served between chewy
slices of near foot-long baguettes. The flavor is solid if not a little
exotic for burger eaters, but the hook is price: $2.45. The
establishments also serve more Western-style sandwiches on baguettes
and croissants that feature mayonnaise, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.
Egg rolls and spring rolls are optional, as are Asian-style sweets,
including a new item, Korean cream puffs called delimanjoo. There's a clean, assembly-line quality to the eateries, which are
arranged around a walk-up register and a pick-up counter. An automated
voice calls out customers' orders by number when the food is ready. And
that's usually within a few minutes. Most of the establishments seem to
be cash only. All feature free wi-fi. Franchise fees start at $248,180
for a "mall unit" and top out at more than $2 million for a "production
unit" where bread is baked onsite. More info can be found here.